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Libyan court overturns six death sentences
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-26 09:16
The Libyan supreme court on Sunday overturned death sentences for five
Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who have been in jail since 1999 on
allegations they purposely infected children with the AIDS virus.
The case has poisoned Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's efforts to improve
ties with the West and he is believed looking for a face-saving way out of the
standoff. The supreme court ordered the six defendants retried, saying there
were "irregularities" in the case's handling.
The U.S. government and European Union had condemned the convictions and
accused Libya of trumping up the charges to divert attention from poor hygiene
at its hospitals that the critics blame for the infections.
The supreme court's ruling came three days after U.S., European and Libyan
negotiators reached a deal to set up a fund to help families of the 426 children
infected in the 1990s with HIV. About 50 of the children are said to have died.
Emotions are also inflamed in Libya. Relatives of the infected children
angrily protested Sunday's ruling at Green Square in central Tripoli. Some set
fire to tires and clashed with police. Four demonstrators were arrested.
Relatives of Bulgarian nurses jailed in Libya
hold banners that call on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to release them,
in front of the Libyan Embassy in Sofia, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005.
[AP] | Libya accused the six health workers of
deliberately infecting the children at a Benghazi hospital as part of an
experiment. The health workers said they were tortured to extract confessions.
In the ruling Sunday, the supreme court's chief judge, Ali al-Alous,
suggested he believed the defense. He said prosecutors had agreed with defense
lawyers that there were "irregularities" in the arrest and the interrogation of
the medical workers.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Justin Higgins said "our
understanding is that this decision is a positive development since it removes
the risk of the death sentence being carried out."
"The international community is working with Libya to find an overall
solution," Higgins said. "As we have made clear before, we believe a way should
be found to allow the medics to return to their homes. We'll continue to support
these efforts."
Bulgaria welcomed the verdict as a "positive sign" and said it hoped for a
quick retrial.
"The Libyan court's decision is an encouraging step toward a final
recognition of the innocence of our compatriots," said Bulgaria's parliament
speaker, Georgi Pirinski.
The defendants did not attend Sunday's session. A date for the retrial was
not immediately set.
The case has plagued Gadhafi's campaign to rebuild good relations with the
West.
In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am
jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, and agreed to compensate families of the 270
victims. It also voluntarily scrapped its nuclear program, handing its material
over to the United States and United Nations.
In response, the U.S. government lifted 23-year-old travel restrictions
imposed on Libya, invited American companies to return to the oil-rich nation
and encouraged Tripoli to open a diplomatic office in Washington.
But Washington has made clear the nurses' case is a key sticking point that
must be resolved before the United States reopens its embassy in Tripoli, a top
goal for Gadhafi.
"There should be no confusion in the Libyan government's mind that those
nurses ought to be not only spared ... but out of prison," President Bush said
in October.
The European Union also said its relations with Libya hinged on the fate of
the Bulgarians.
The trial has stoked anger within Libya, with the families of the infected
children demonstrating at every court session and reacting with outrage at the
repeated delays in carrying out the original sentence of execution by firing
squad.
Relatives, some of them carrying their children, scuffled with riot police
surrounding the court during Sunday's session and tried to force their way
inside. "Merry Christmas to you, nurses, but what did we do to you that you
infect us?" read one banner.
Awad al-Mesmari, a lawyer for families of the infected children, said he was
"saddened" by the ruling.
"What did the children do so that they suffer now? We have buried 50 of them,
may God bless them," he said.
Another lawyer for families vowed the six would still be found guilty.
"The verdict will delay achieving justice for years because the retrial takes
a long time. We will be ready and we have enough evidence to incriminate them,"
Ramadan al-Faytouri said.
In months of negotiations over the nurses, Bulgaria rejected Libyan proposals
that it pay compensation to families of the infected children, saying that would
imply the medical workers' guilt and amount to blackmail.
On Thursday, an agreement was announced under which Bulgaria, the United
States, Britain and the EU agreed to set up a non-governmental group to collect
and distribute financial and material help to the children's families. The
amount of aid has yet to be announced.
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